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This paper investigates the problems of prescribed-time stabilization and optimization for microgrids with event-triggered interactions employing the cyber-physical system (CPS) framework. The main objective is to concurrently achieve the distributed secondary regulation and optimal power allocation of the microgrids within a prescribed time in the manner of aperiodic intermittent interactions. To this end, we adopt a cyber-physical framework for designing a new distributed prescribed-time control and optimization algorithm. In the proposed algorithm, the convergence time can be arbitrarily prescribed within the physical limits regardless of the prior knowledge of the initial values. Besides, the update of the presented algorithm is based on intermittent interactions with aperiodic event-triggered mechanism, significantly reducing the cost of information exchange. Furthermore, we also demonstrate the prescribed-time stabilization and the exclusion of the possible Zeno behaviors for the presented event-triggered interactions. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed control algorithm is demonstrated by several simulation results.

•Nrf2 regulates L2HG for histone methylation modification in SCD.•Nrf2 ablation and L2HG accumulation sensitize erythroid cells to ferroptosis.

The dead fuel moisture content (DFMC) is the key driver leading to fire occurrence. Accurately estimating the DFMC could help identify locations facing fire risks, prioritise areas for fire monitoring, and facilitate timely deployment of fire-suppression resources. In this study, the DFMC and environmental variables, including air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, solar radiation, rainfall, atmospheric pressure, soil temperature, and soil humidity, were simultaneously measured in a grassland of Ergun City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China in 2021. We chose three regression models, i.e., random forest (RF) model, extreme gradient boosting (XGB) model, and boosted regression tree (BRT) model, to model the seasonal DFMC according to the data collected. To ensure accuracy, we added time-lag variables of 3 d to the models. The results showed that the RF model had the best fitting effect with an R2value of 0.847 and a prediction accuracy with a mean absolute error score of 4.764% among the three models. The accuracies of the models in spring and autumn were higher than those in the other two seasons. In addition, different seasons had different key influencing factors, and the degree of influence of these factors on the DFMC changed with time lags. Moreover, time-lag variables within 44 h clearly improved the fitting effect and prediction accuracy, indicating that environmental conditions within approximately 48 h greatly influence the DFMC. This study highlights the importance of considering 48 h time-lagged variables when predicting the DFMC of grassland fuels and mapping grassland fire risks based on the DFMC to help locate high-priority areas for grassland fire monitoring and prevention.

Yanhu Lake basin (YHB) is a typical alpine lake on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau (TP). Its continuous expansion in recent years poses serious threats to downstream major projects. As a result, studies of the mechanisms underlying lake expansion are urgently needed. The elasticity method within the Budyko framework was used to calculate the water balance in the Yanhu Lake basin (YHB) and the neighboring Tuotuo River basin (TRB). Results show intensification of hydrological cycles and positive trends in the lake area, river runoff, precipitation, and potential evapotranspiration. Lake expansion was significant between 2001 and 2020 and accelerated between 2015 and 2020. Precipitation increase was the key factor underlying the hydrological changes, followed by glacier meltwater and groundwater. The overflow of Yanhu Lake was inevitable because it was connected to three other lakes and the water balance of all four lakes was positive. The high salinity lake water diverted downstream will greatly impact the water quality of the source area of the Yangtze River and the stability of the permafrost base of the traffic corridor.

The adjunctive role of human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA testing in the follow up of high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) after conization is analyzed. HPV DNA testing is useful in the follow-up and understanding of the natural history after conization for high-grade CIN.

We experimentally demonstrate an ultra-compact polarization-independent 3 dB power splitter on the silicon-on-insulator platform. Subwavelength structure engineering is employed to balance the coupling coefficients of TE and TM polarizations as well as a footprint reduction. The device possesses ultra-compact (1.2µm×2.62µm) and polarization-independent features with an operating bandwidth over 50 nm (from 1540 to 1590 nm).

Passive technologies integrating phase-change material (PCM) are effective means of enhancing energy flexibility and reducing carbon emissions in buildings. This research endeavors to conduct a life-cycle, multi-objective passive optimization for office buildings assembled with phase-change walls located in cold regions, considering both embodied and operational aspects. Dynamic simulations were used to assess two experimentally validated phase-change wall forms, considering criteria such as energy consumption, carbon emissions, and economic evaluation. Additionally, for future-oriented low-carbon buildings, it is crucial to determine the influence of climate change on the building ontology and PCM. The results indicate that the optimal configurations obtained through the sum-weighted approach can result in energy savings of >13 %, while simultaneously enhancing building performance and without any additional carbon emissions. Notably, the exterior PCM scenario notably exhibited superior energy savings compared to those of the interior scenario at an appropriate phase-transition temperature. Considering that over 68 % of a building's carbon emissions originate from operational factors, the conversion of the power mix to renewable sources under regulated climate change scenarios presents significant advantages for low-carbon buildings. The phase-transition period is projected to decrease by 11.6 % as a result of future climate effects. By means of the multi-objective optimization considering climate impacts, this study provides valuable guidance for the development of low-carbon office buildings.

Stimulator of interferon genes is an important innate immune signaling molecule in the body and is involved in the innate immune signal transduction pathway induced by pathogen-associated molecular patterns or damage-associated molecular patterns. Stimulator of interferon genes promotes the production of type I interferon and thus plays an important role in the innate immune response to infection. In addition, according to a recent study, the stimulator of interferon genes pathway also contributes to anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor reactions. In this paper, current researches on the Stimulator of interferon genes signaling pathway and its relationship with tumor immunity are reviewed. Meanwhile, a series of critical problems to be addressed in subsequent studies are discussed as well.

Cavitation is a complex multiphase flow phenomenon with an abrupt transient phase change between the liquid and the vapor, including multiscale vortical motions. The transient cavitation dynamics is closely associated with the evolution of the cavitation vortex structures. The present paper investigates the cavitation vortex dynamics using different vortex identification methods, including the vorticity method, the Qcriterion method, the Omega method (Ω), the λ2method and the Rortex method. The Qcriterion is an eigenvalue-based criterion, and in the Omega method, the parameter is normalized, is independent of the threshold value and in most conditions Ω=0.52. The Rortex method is based on an eigenvector-based criterion. Numerical simulations are conducted using the implemented compressible cavitation solver in the open source software OpenFOAM for the sheet/cloud cavitating flows around a NACA66 (mod) hydrofoil fixed at α=6°, σ=1.25 and Re=7.96×105. The flow is characterized by the alternate interactions of the re-entrant flow and the collapse induced shock wave. Results include the vapor structures and the vortex dynamics in the unsteady sheet/cloud cavitating flows, with emphasis on the vortex structures in the cavitation region, the cavity interface, the cavity closure, the cavity wakes, and the foil wakes with the shedding cavity. The comparisons of the various methods, including that the vorticity method, the Qcriterion method, the Omega method, the λ2method and the Rortex method, show the performances of different methods in identifying the cavitation vortex structures. Generally, during the attached cavity growth stage, the Qcriteria can well predict the vortex structures in the cavitation region and at the foil trailing edge in the pure liquid region, while with the Omega method and the Rortex method, the vortex structures outside the attached cavity and on the foil pressure side can also be predicted. The λ2method can well predict the vortex structures in the cavity closure region. During the re-entrant jet development stage, the vortex structures in the re-entrant jet region is weak. During the cavity cloud shedding stage, the vortex dynamics at the foil leading edge covered by newly grown cavity sheet is different from that during the attached cavity sheet growth stage. During the shock wave formation and propagation stage, strong vortex structures with both the size and the strength are observed owing to the cavity cloud shedding and collapse behavior. The influence of the small parameter ε in the Omega method on the cavitation vortex identification is discussed.

The basidiomycetous fungus Sporisorium scitamineumcauses sugarcane smut that leads to severe economic losses in the major sugarcane growing areas in China, India and Brazil, etc. Autophagy is a conserved pathway in eukaryotes for bulk degradation and cellular recycling, and was shown to be important for fungal cell growth, development, and pathogenicity. However, physiological function of autophagy has not been studied in S. scitamineum. In this study, we identified a conserved Atg8 protein, named as SsAtg8 and characterized its function. Our results showed that autophagy was blocked in the ssatg8Δ mutant, in nitrogen starvation. The ssatg8Δ mutant formed pseudohypha frequently and was hypersensitive to oxidative stress. However, mating or filamenation was unaffected in the ssatg8Δ mutant in vitro. Overall we demonstrate that autophagy is dispensable for S. scitamineummating/filamentation, while critical for oxidative stress tolerance and proper morphology in sporidial stage.

In this work, Indium-Gallium-Zinc-Oxide Thin Film Transistors (IGZO-TFTs) with different channel thickness has been compared after self-heating stress (SHS). Although TFTs with a larger channel thickness possess a greater current during stress durations, a less degradation is observed. From results, the threshold voltage shift in the transfer characteristics is well described by the stretched-exponential equation. Also, the average effective barrier height, Et, is extracted to compare the degradation difference between both components. Accordingly, the barrier height in the thick channel layer component is twice of that in the thin channel layer component. Finally, COMSOL simulation is given to demonstrate the electrical difference at the gate insulator layer to confirm such phenomenon.

In this work, indium-gallium-zinc-oxide thin film transistors (IGZO-TFTs) with different channel thicknesses were compared after self-heating stress (SHS). Although TFTs with a thicker channel have higher current during stress conditions, less degradation is reported. This degradation, manifest as the threshold voltage shift in the transfer characteristics, is well described by the stretched-exponential equation. In addition, the average effective barrier height, Et, is extracted to compare the difference in degradation between both TFTs, and finds that the barrier height in the thick channel device is twice that of the thin channel device. Finally, a COMSOL simulation is performed to demonstrate the electrical difference at the gate insulator layer and confirm such phenomena.

The objective of this paper is to investigate the unsteady cavitation behaviors and the corresponding cavitating flow-induced vibrations. Results are presented for the modified NACA66 hydrofoils made of stainless steel and POM Polyacetate respectively at Re= 6.0×105for various cavitation regimes. The high-speed camera and the single point laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV) are used to observe the transient cavitating flow patterns and measure the vibration velocities. The results showed that the vibration amplitude increases dramatically for the cloud cavitation due to the development of large-scale cloud cavity. The main flow-induced frequencies, which are in accordance with the cavity shedding frequency, decrease with the decrease of the cavitation number. As for the effect of the hydroelastic response on the vibration behavior, the lift coefficient for the POM Polyacetate hydrofoil fluctuates more significantly with a larger mean value than that for the stainless steel hydrofoil. Compared with the vaporous cavity along the suction side of the stainless steel hydrofoil, the cavity for POM Polyacetate hydrofoil appears to be fragmentized. The main vibration frequencies for the POM Polyacetate hydrofoil are larger than that for the stainless steel hydrofoil, with the chaotic hydroelastic response with high frequency.

Objective: The authors sought to determine whether subjects with the sole diagnosis of depressive personality disorder are at higher risk for developing dysthymia and major depression than are healthy comparison subjects. Method: Eighty-five women with depressive personality disorder who had no co-morbid axis I or axis II disorders and 85 age-matched healthy comparison women were initially recruited and reinterviewed 3 years later to evaluate the cumulative incidence rate of dysthymia and major depression. Results: At the 3-year follow-up assessment, the women with depressive personality disorder had a significantly greater odds ratio for developing dysthymia than did the healthy comparison women. The difference in odds ratios for the development of major depression between women with and without depressive personality disorder did not reach statistical significance. Conclusions: The present study, the first to determine the subsequent development of dysthymia and major depression in subjects with the sole diagnosis of depressive personality disorder, found that subjects with depressive personality disorder had a greater risk of developing dysthymia than did healthy comparison subjects at 3-year follow-up. Findings of the current study also suggest that depressive personality disorder may mediate the effects of a family history of axis I unipolar mood disorders. (Am J Psychiatry 2000; 157:1966-1972)

In this letter, we demonstrate that the set and reset voltages of resistance random access memory (RRAM) are affected by the oxygen concentration gradient. Owing to higher oxygen ion storage ability in the ITO electrode, resistive switching behaviors will occur near the ITO electrode. During forming and set processes, oxygen ions will be propelled into the ITO electrode due to its oxygen vacancy-rich property. To investigate the effect of oxygen concentration gradient on resistive switching behaviors, electrical analysis of the characteristics of RRAM devices with different ITO thicknesses was performed, and a model was proposed to explain the phenomenon.

BackgroundIndividuals with risk-loving attitudes may be more likely to participate in high-risk sex and gambling. We investigated whether a lottery-based financial incentive to have a negative syphilis test may attract Chinese men who have sex with men (MSM) who practised risky sexual behaviours.MethodsIn July 2018, a national online cross-sectional survey was conducted in China. We collected information on willingness to participate in a lottery-based financial incentive where men were eligible if they tested negative for syphilis, and the minimum prize that would attract them to participate. We used a validated risk attitude scale which asked about the willingness to take risks in six domains, ranging from 0 (avoids taking risk) to 10 (fully prepared to take risks). To avoid multicollinearity, we used principal components analysis to create a ‘risk attitude index’. Bivariable and multivariable logistic regression explored factors associated with willingness to test negative for syphilis.Results699 MSM enrolled with a median age of 26 years (IQR: 23–30). 70% self-identified as gay and 52% reported ever testing for syphilis. 64% stated they were likely or very likely to test for syphilis linked with a lottery-based incentive. The median desired amount for the lottery had an expected value of ¥10 (US$1.50, IQR: ¥5–¥30). Men who had greater odds of willingness to participate in the lottery-based incentive were those scoring highest on the risk attitude index (adjusted OR (AOR) 2.6, 95% CI 1.5 to 4.3), those reporting more than one sexual partner in the last 3 months (AOR 1.7, 95% CI 1.2 to 2.4), those who had not used condoms during their last sex (AOR 1.5, 95% CI 1.0 to 2.2) and those who ever had group sex (AOR 1.5, 95% CI 1.0 to 2.2).ConclusionChinese MSM with higher risk attitudes and who reported riskier sexual behaviours indicated greater interest in the concept of a lottery-based incentive for syphilis testing. A lottery-based incentive may be a promising strategy for promoting condom use among risk-loving men.

By applying an optimized chelate gas phase deposition technique, a Yb/Ce codoped aluminosilicate fiber with ultra-low loss of 1.55 dB/km was successfully fabricated and reported. The fiber showed homogenous distribution of the refractive index and dopant concentration devoid of central dip and clustering. Using the fiber as the amplifier stage, it delivered 1023 W near-single-mode laser output (M^2=1.35) with a high slope efficiency of 85.1%, and the fiber temperature was less than 24.2°C, primarily benefiting from the ultra-low background loss. The fiber also exhibited low photodarkening-induced loss, illustrating its outstanding photodarkening resistance. These results indicate that the ultra-low-loss Yb/Ce codoped aluminosilicate fiber is a prospective candidate for stable and reliable fiber laser applications.

The objective of this paper is to investigate the compressible turbulent cavitating flows with special emphasis on shock wave dynamics, with the water/vapor compressibility taken into account. The simulations are performed by solving the compressible, multiphase unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations with Saito cavitation model and SST-SAS turbulence model. The compressibility of both the pure water and vapor is considered by employment of the Tait equation of state for water and ideal gas equation of state for vapor. Results are presented for a 3-D NACA66 hydrofoil fixed at α= 6° and σ=1.25 in partial cavitating flows. Cavity collapse induced shock wave formation and propagation, which is closely related to the compressibility characteristics of cavitating flows, are well predicted. Good performance has been obtained for both the cavity evolution process and cavitation induced pressure signals, especially the cavity collapse induced shock wave emission and its interaction with the attached cavity sheet. The pressure peaks in microseconds accompanying the shock wave are captured. The typical quasi-periodic sheet/cloud cavitation evolution is characterized by the following four stages: (1) the growth of the attached cavity sheet, (2) development of re-entrant flow and attached cavity sheet breakup, (3) attached cavity sheet rolling up and cavity cloud shedding, and (4) cloud cavity collapse, shock wave emission and propagation. The cloud cavity collapse induced shock wave dynamics is supposed to be the major origin of cavitation instabilities.

Electrical properties of the double-gate amorphous In-Ga-Zn-O thin film transistor with the top-gate-to-source/drain offset structure were investigated in dark and under visible and UV light illumination conditions. With the increase of the band gap energy of the incident light, the amount of charge carries generated in the semiconductor channel layer was increased, which enhanced the field effect mobility and increased the leakage current. At the same time, defects were created, which deteriorated the threshold voltage and subthreshold slope. For the top-gate thin film transistor, the UV illumination seriously deteriorated all device characteristics except the leakage current because of the reduction of oxygen vacancies. The performance of the double-gate thin film transistor was dominated by the bottom-gate transistor. Light illumination effects in the bottom- and double-gate transistors were similar but much less serious than those of the top-gate transistor. The understanding of the wavelength-dependent light illumination effect is critical to double-gate thin film transistor applications.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have pathogenic roles in the development of a variety of leukemias. Here we identify miRNAs that have important roles in the development of B lymphomas resulting from the expression of the chimeric BCR-FGFR1 kinase. The miR-17/92 cluster was particularly implicated and forced expression resulted in increased cell proliferation, while inhibiting its function using miRNA sponges reduced cell growth and induced apoptosis. Cells treated with the potent BGJ389 FGFR1 inhibitor led to miR-17/92 downregulation, suggesting regulation by FGFR1. Transient luciferase reporter assays and qRT-PCR detection of endogenous miR-17/92 expression in stable transduced cell lines demonstrated that BCR-FGFR1 can regulate miR-17/92 expression. This positive association of miR-17/92 with BCR-FGFR1 was also confirmed in primary mouse SCLL tissues and primary human CLL samples. miR-17/92 promotes cell proliferation and survival by targeting CDKN1A and PTEN in B-lymphoma cell lines and primary tumors. An inverse correlation in expression levels was seen between miR-17/92 and both CDKN1A and PTEN in two cohorts of CLL patients. Finally, in vivo engraftment studies demonstrated that manipulation of miR-17/92 was sufficient to affect BCR-FGFR1-driven leukemogenesis. Overall, our results define miR-17/92 as a downstream effector of FGFR1 in BCR-FGFR1-driven B-cell lymphoblastic leukemia.

Inter-comparison on the chemical characteristics, spatiotemporal variation, and source originality of atmosphere PM10at the coastal regions and offshore islands of subtropical region in East Asia was investigated. A total of six sampling sites including three coastal and three island sites over the Minjiang estuary were selected for simultaneously manually sampling PM10to investigate the differences of coastal and island PM10concentration, chemical properties, and emission sources. After sampling, an ion chromatographer (IC) was used to analyze the concentration of major anions (F−, Cl−, SO42−, and NO3−) and cations (NH4+, K+, Na+, Ca2+and Mg2+). The metallic elements (Na, Ca, Al, Fe, Mg, K, Zn, Cr, Ti, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Cd) of PM10were measured with an inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometer (ICP-AES). The carbonaceous contents, including elemental, organic, and total carbons (OC, EC, and TC), of PM10were analyzed with an elemental analyzer (EA). The source apportionment of PM10was further resolved by a receptor model based on chemical mass balance (CMB). Field measurement results showed that high concentrations of PM10(102 ± 25 μg/m3) were commonly observed from late fall to early winter. The PM10concentration showed a consistently descending trend from the west coastline to the far east islands, with the highest PM10concentration at the coastal site (Site HQ) and the lowest at the far east island site (Site DY) in all seasons. Secondary inorganic aerosols (SIAs) and crustal materials were two most abundant compounds in PM10. Increasing anthropogenic trace elements was commonly observed in spring and winter, while northern monsoons were blown. High OC/EC ratios showed that secondary organic aerosols (SOAs) could be formed in the atmosphere of Minjiang estuary. Results from CMB receptor modeling indicated that the major sources of atmospheric PM10at the coastal and offshore island regions of the Minjiang estuary were soil dusts (13–33%), secondary aerosols (15–30%), transport emissions (11–17%), sea salts (8–27%), and agricultural debris burning (2–8%). Particularly, during the poor air quality periods, a rising contribution of industrial emissions (1–16%) was resolved, suggesting that atmospheric PM10over the Minjiang estuary was mainly attributed to cross-boundary transport rather than local emissions.

The sneak-path leakage current issue is one of the severe hindrances for the application of high density resistive random access memory (RRAM) array design. In this work, we demonstrate nonlinear (NL) resistive switching characteristics of HfOx/SiOx-based stacking structure as a realization for selector-less RRAM devices. The NL characteristic was obtained and designed by optimizing internal filament location with low effective dielectric constant intending in HfOx/SiOx structure. The stacking HfOx/SiOx-based RRAM device as the one-resistor-only memory cell is applicable without additional selector device to solve the sneak-path issue with switching voltage ~1 V, which is desirable for low power operating in built-in nonlinearity crossbar array configuration.

With the expansion of surgical criteria, the comparative efficacy between surgical resection (SR) and liver transplantation (LT) for hepatocellular carcinoma is inconclusive. This study aimed to develop a prognostic nomogram for predicting recurrence-free survival of hepatocellular carcinoma patients after resection and explored the possibility of using nomogram as treatment algorithm reference.

The devices composed of Pt/TaON/TiN reveal bipolar switching behavior that shows excellent resistance ratio of 102 with operations over 100 DC cycles. The formation/disruption of conducting filaments by oxygen anions migration near/at the TiN electrode was applied to explain the switching behavior. In comparison with Pt/TaON/TiN device, the Cu/TaON/TiN device exhibits reversed bipolar resistive switching characteristic. The switching mechanism of Cu/TaON/TiN device is regarded as the Cu redox reaction and migration in the TaON film. Furthermore, the setting voltage of the Cu/TaON/TiN device is lower than that of the Pt/TaON/TiN device due to the confined conduction path by Cu filaments.

Water pollution is a serious threat to the human beings’ survival and development and a universal problem across community society. In this work, a novel β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) hydrogel was successfully synthesized by polycondensation reaction using epichlorohydrin (EPI) and β-CD under basic condition, and the swelling ratio at room temperature was up to 181%. The adsorption behavior and adsorption mechanism of EPI crosslinked β-CD were evaluated by using acid orange 7 (AO7) as a model dye. We found that the adsorption process obeyed the pseudo-second-order kinetic model, and the maximum adsorption capacity of AO7 was estimated to be 132 mg g–1, which is much higher than the bamboo charcoal, titanium dioxide and so on. Moreover, intraparticle diffusion model indicates that the adsorption process can be divided into three stages: diffusion of the AO7 to β-CD hydrogel surface, intraparticle diffusion, establishment of the adsorption equilibrium, and the host–guest interaction between the hydrophobic naphthyl group and the cavity of β-CD plays the decisive role in the adsorption of AO7 onto β-CD hydrogel.

•Microporous ZSM-5 and mesoporous MCM-41 loaded with TiO2were synthesized and compared.•Uniform design was adopted to study four factors of photocatalytic degradation process in eleven levels.•The predicted results of uniform design agreed with the actual results of single factor experiments.•The biological toxicity of oxytetracycline and its intermediates was assessed by inhibition rate of Escherichia coli, which linearly decreased with increased OTC degradation efficiency.•The inhibition rate was calculated from the biomass at the stationary growth phase and the maximum specific growth rate.

The abnormal sub-threshold leakage current is observed at high temperature in amorphous Indium-Gallium-Zinc-Oxide Thin Film Transistors (a-IGZO TFTs). To confirm this phenomenon dependence of the defects of a-IGZO active layer, the paper proposes the devices with N2O plasma treatment at a-IGZO film. This phenomenon only appears in the as-fabricated device, but not in the device with N2O plasma treatment, which is experimentally verified. N2O plasma treatment at a-IGZO TFTs enhances the thin film bonding strength which could suppress the formation of temperature-dependent point defects. The point defects could be generated from oxygen atoms have left their original sites above 400K. The N2O plasma treatment devices have better stability performance than as-fabricated devices. The results suggested that the density of point states for a-IGZO TFTs with N2O plasma treatment is much lower than that as-fabricated. The N2O plasma repairs the point defect to suppress temperature-dependent sub-threshold leakage current.

The abnormal sub-threshold leakage current is observed at high temperature in amorphous Indium-Gallium-Zinc-Oxide Thin Film Transistors (a-IGZO TFTs). To confirm this phenomenon dependence of the defects of a-IGZO active layer, the paper proposes the devices with N2O plasma treatment at a-IGZO film. This phenomenon only appears in the as-fabricated device, but not in the device with N2O plasma treatment, which is experimentally verified. N2O plasma treatment at a-IGZO TFTs enhances the thin film bonding strength which could suppress the formation of temperature-dependent point defects. The point defects could be generated from oxygen atoms have left their original sites above 400K. The N2O plasma treatment devices have better stability performance than as-fabricated devices. The results suggested that the density of point states for a-IGZO TFTs with N2O plasma treatment is much lower than that as-fabricated. The N2O plasma repairs the point defect to suppress temperature-dependent sub-threshold leakage current.

This study applies a novel synthesis method of nanostructure, supercritical CO2 (SCCO2) fluid technology, for ZnO nanotubes growth by oxidation from metal Zn thin film on glass substrate at 60degC. A sputtering Zn film was oxidized by post-treatment of SCCO2 fluid in which 0.3 vol % deionized water was mixed. The images of scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopic indicate that high density nanotubes were formed on the glass substrate. Based on material analyses in this study, ZnO nanotubes with a small diameter (30-50 nm) was formed from metal Zn thin film on a glass substrate by SCCO2 fluid technology.

Traditionally, a large number of silicon oxide materials are extensively used as various dielectrics for semiconductor industries. But silicon oxide cannot be used as resistance random access memory (RRAM) due to its native electrical properties. In this work, based on the concept of inducing defect by metal doping into insulator, silicon oxide with a few tin dopants at room temperature can successfully be used as switching layer in RRAM. According to electrical analyses, the current transport mechanism in Sn-doped silicon oxide is governed by Pool-Frenkel emission, which demonstrates the conduction path in the RRAM guided by Sn doping induced defect.

Rapidly developing next-generation sequencing technologies significantly promote metagenomics research, yet also present extreme challenges in the analysis of metagenomic data. Metagenomic samples can contain thousands of microbial species, thus, sequencing datasets can contain fragments from thousands of different genomes. Therefore, clustering the sequencing reads with their original genomes, namely, binning, is usually done to expedite further studies. Currently, binning methods are divided into two categories: supervised methods (which require reference genomes), and unsupervised methods (which do not). We present an unsupervised binning method that combines a novel sequence feature recognition method with a spectral clustering algorithm. The sequence feature is a hybrid of sequence correlation and sequence composition analyses. Simulation experiments, based on simulated and actual metagenomic datasets, suggest that the combination of sequence composition and an intrinsic correlation of oligonucleotides, both extracted from tetranucleotide analyses, performs better than any single feature. A spectral clustering algorithm, which is a high performance unsupervised clustering method, is also applied in our binning method. The method is available as an open source package called HSS-bin (Hybrid Sequence feature and Spectral clustering unsupervised metagenomic binning) at http://bioinfo.seu.edu.cn/HSS-bin/. We evaluated HSS-bin’s performance using both simulated and actual metagenomic datasets. Experimental results indicate that HSS-bin can handle metagenomic sequencing data with non-uniform species abundance, short sequences, and complex phylogenetic diversity with high accuracy. Our method performs well on actual metagenomic datasets and on datasets simulated from a complex metagenomic community.

Oxide based resistive switching memory (ReRAM or RRAM) are the promising candidates for future non-volatile memory due to its fast programing, low power operation, and scalability. Among them, SiOx single layer resistive switching (RS) devices have been widely studied and characterized. The SiOx single layer resistive memory has excellent compatibility to CMOS fabrication process. However, it can only be programmed under the vacuum or non-oxidized ambient. Also, previous results reported on SiOx-based memristors indicate that the electroforming and programming voltages are relatively high, especially for low-power applications. In this work, by using SiOx/HfOx stacked structure, we have developed a low-voltage operation (< 2V) for SiOx-based ReRAM. The results show that with HfOx (3nm) on bottom, the metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) structures exhibit resistive switching at low voltage (< 2V) and operation in air atmosphere. The added hafnium layer is believed to provide a source to proton exchange reaction with conduction bandgap offset reduction for low-voltage (< 2V) RS. Furthermore, we have studied single HfOx-based MIS devices which exhibit bipolar-type resistive switching behaviors with small memory window. Clearly, SiOx/HfOx stacking optimization not only maintains the RS behaviors even in air environment without any programming window degradation, but also reduces the switching voltage below 2V.

Owing to rapid advances in the next-generation sequencing technology, the cost of DNA sequencing has been reduced by over several orders of magnitude. However, genomic sequencing of individuals at the population scale is still restricted to a few model species due to the huge challenge of constructing libraries for thousands of samples. Meanwhile, pooled sequencing provides a cost-effective alternative to sequencing individuals separately, which could vastly reduce the time and cost for DNA library preparation. Technological improvements, together with the broad range of biological research questions that require large sample sizes, mean that pooled sequencing will continue to complement the sequencing of individual genomes and become increasingly important in the foreseeable future. However, simply mixing samples together for sequencing makes it impossible to identify reads that belongs to each sample. Barcoding technology could help to solve this problem, nonetheless, currently, barcoding every sample is costly especially for large-scale samples. An alternative to barcoding is combinatorial pooled sequencing which employs pooling pattern rather than short DNA barcodes to encode each sample. In combinatorial pooled sequencing, samples are mixed into few pools according to a carefully designed pooling strategy which allows the sequencing data to be decoded to identify the reads that belongs to the sample that are unique or rare in the population. In this review, we mainly survey the experiment design and decoding procedure for the combinatorial pooled sequencing applied in rare variant and rare haplotype carriers screening, complex genome assembling and single individual haplotyping.

This work demonstrates an abnormal transconductance (GM) enhancement after positive bias stress (PBS) in n-channel high-k/metal gate stacked fin-field-effect-transistors. This abnormal GM enhancement is observed only in short channel devices. With the speculation that hole-trapping-induced electron accumulation is the dominant mechanism, PBS with floating source and drain is adopted as an investigative approach. This, together with the electric field simulation, verifies that hole-trapping in the HfO2 and SiN near the gate corner induces electron accumulated at the ends of the channel length. Such a phenomenon results in a shortening of effective channel length and further GM enhancement.

AbstractIt is a nation's dream of becoming the higher income country by striding across the middle income trap. We select Brazil, Malaysia, Mexico, Chile and South Korea as the research object, and analyze the influence factors with the economic growth of the middle income countries by using the quantile regression model. The researcher shows the influence factors for every a nation's economic growth are different with the different economic development. Because of the inertia of the economic development, the present scale of economic development will inevitably affect the future scale of economic development. The empirical analysis shows the influence degree of the present South Korea's economic development on the future South Korea's economic development is more significant than the other's four nations of the middle income trap. The factor such as the quantity of labor force, capital accumulation, the third industry, government consumption, etc, will have the different effect on the growth of the GNI per capita in the different economic development period.

AbstractThe village clinic is a fundamental medical treatment serves organization. The incomes of the village clinic will directly impact on the working enthusiasm and the personal income of the village doctors. The result of the quartile regression shows that the influence degree of the village clinics' income each are different with the corporation character of the village clinic, the number of the clinic's outpatient, the number of the male and the female village doctors, and village health room size in the different quartile.

Abstract(1) Total Quality (TQ) is and ought to be the standard for evaluating interior staff and subcontractor performance. The three key elements of Total Quality Management (TQM) that were also the main criteria for evaluating interior staff and subcontractor performance, are enumerated by Cohen (1993) as follows:(2) Working with suppliers to ensure that the supplies utilized in the work processes are designed for the organization's use;(3) Continuous employee analysis of work processes to improve their functioning and reduce process variation; andClose communication with customers to identify and understand what they want and how they define quality. (p.18)This study aimed to explore which of the three variables is the subject organization weak in with the objective of eventually improving in this area.A survey questionnaire was randomly given out to fifty (50) select clients, customers, or patrons, subcontractors, or interior staff members. The questionnaires functioned as a gauge to measure the performance of the organization's interior staff and subcontractors against the given criteria.Furthermore, a thorough analysis of available literature and of previous studies on the matter was done for purposes of comparing and contrasting the results of the survey.